Chocobos are one of the staples of the Final Fantasy franchise, essentially becoming one of their mascots over the years, and they make a big appearance in Final Fantasy XV, as a means of transportation. Once you reach Chapter 3, Prompto will insist that you go and see the Chocobos over at Wiz Chocobo Ranch, which will trigger the start of the Friends of a Feather sidequest . See this quest to the end and you will rewarded with the ability to rent Chocobos from the little stands that you might have noticed when visiting outposts.

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As you ride the Chocobo, it will level up (left) and gain both combat abilities and enhanced attributes (right).

When you access these stands, you will see that you can rent Chocobos for up to seven days. The best thing about the Chocobo is that you can go offroad with it, something the Regalia cannot do, although it is faster. Should the timer run out, then the Chocobo will be returned and you will have to go rent another one. However, if you’re riding the Chocobo when the timer runs out, then the majestic creature will not return until you get off of it. You should have received a whistle that lets you summon your rented Chocobo whenever you should need your trusty steed.

Chocobo Levels¶

As you’re riding the feathery friends, you will notice that the Chocobos will eventually level up. While this doesn’t have a huge impact on the game, the Chocobos can learn some important abilities from doing this. Note that the maximum level is 10, with every level is unlocked based on time riding alone and nothing else. At levels 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, the Chocobo will gain abilities that you can use in battles, such as being able to flee or having it join in with some attacks. The other levels contribute to your Chocobo’s stamina, maximum running speed, jumping height and stamina recovery.

Chocobo Customization¶

After unlocking the ability to rent Chocobos, you can visit the Wiz Chocobo Post and do some more sidequests for Wiz that revolve around the awesome avians. Completing these quests will give you the ability to change the color of the Chocobos you ride, although you do start with two default colors, yellow and white. Look for the green icon on your minimap, which is the Chocobo Salon. This allows you to not only name your Chocobos (lasts throughout multiple rentals), but you can also change the color of each character’s Chocobo (you could have each one a different color).

To unlock more colors for your Chocobos, there are two things you can do. The first thing is to complete the sidequests that unlock after completing Friends of a Feather, some of which will reward you with a new color(s) for your Chocobos. The other method is a bit harder, as you need to participate in the Chocobo Races and will have to look for Chocobo Pears during the race. There are seven of these and not only are they available in specific races, but some of them have extra requirements, such as only being available in the rain or at night.

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You can find some pears hidden during the races that will unlock more colors for your Chocobos.

The other method of unlocking colors involves finding Chocobo Pears during the races. Note that these are hard to find sometimes and you will highly likely lose the races, since they are very out of the way (especially races from the second one on). Once you hunt down the pear, just move over it with your Chocobo and it’ll be added to your inventory, then finish the race to save it. There is a total of 7 Chocobo Pears that can be found in this manner, and some of them are only available to find during certain times of day and even weather.

Chocobo Races¶

At Wiz Chocobo Post, there are some tracks that you can use to race against your companions and also participate in an obstacle course, of sorts. The races against your friends can prove to be challenging, especially if you do it right after obtaining the ability to rent Chocobos. Thus, it’s a good idea to do this a bit later on, after you have ridden Chocobos for a while and have leveled them up a bit to increase their statistics. Winning races will award you medals, which are nothing but decorations you can put on your Chocobos; they do nothing.

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You can race against your friends (left) or do obstacle courses where you need to jump through hoops (right).

The easiest way to deal with the races is to finish up all of the sidequests from Wiz at the Chocobo Post, which will grant you the ability to buy Sylkis Greens from the Chocobo Salon. Go to a camping spot with your Chocobo and when you rest there, you will have the option to feed them a green, so pick the Sylkis Greens option after buying some. These greens will give a big boost to all of your Chocobo’s abilities, which you will see if you pick this option of winning the races.

There are two types of races, those against your friends and mini obstacle courses, where you need to jump through hoops. The latter will be timed and if you don’t finish within the time limit, then you will lose. Both types of races have rules where you can’t steer off-course or fail if you hit the checkpoints in the wrong order.